


Ebb and Flow

by theaniichan



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst, Aziraphale is Falling, Beelzebub was Remiel before falling, Crowley Was Raphael Before Falling (Good Omens), Fluff, He/Him Pronouns For Aziraphale (Good Omens), He/Him Pronouns For Crowley (Good Omens), Multi, She/Her Pronouns for Crowley (Good Omens), They/Them Pronouns for Beelzebub (Good Omens), They/Them Pronouns for Crowley (Good Omens), a little bit of ineffable bureaucracy in there, all the pronouns for crowley, crowley is rising, so is the tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23972962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theaniichan/pseuds/theaniichan
Summary: Two years post-Armageddon't, Gabriel shows up and practically kidnaps Crowley's angel. A lot of things ensue.But wait... Aziraphale's wings weren't always that grey, were they?And when did Crowley get white feathers?
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 76





	1. long ago.

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first fic I've ever posted, con crit would be amazing!!

Crowley was sitting on Aziraphale’s sofa, wine in hand. He took a deep breath and willed back the tears that threatened to fall. The bottle on the table looked depressingly empty, so Crowley gave it a hard look and it refilled.

He was already incredibly drunk. It was no surprise, really. 

Aziraphale was gone. It had been three days since Gabriel had descended from the heavens, grabbed Aziraphale, glared at Crowley, and re-ascended with a struggling Principality in his grip. The pair had been sure that the forces of Heaven and Hell were done with them, but lo and behold, there was Gabriel, the arch-bastard. 

There was a knock at the door. “We’re closed,” Crowley slurred, his tongue not quite cooperating. The knock came again. Finally, he willed himself sober and sauntered angrily to the door. Beelzebub was standing there, looking more than a little annoyed. Crowley thought he could almost see a little  _ worry _ in their knitted brow, but he brushed it off.

“What in the nine circles of Hell are you doing here?” he leaned against the door frame.

“Crowley,” they buzzed. “Azz much azz I hate to szay thiszz, I’m going to need your help.”

“And if I refuse?” he pushed his dark glasses up the bridge of his nose and set his face into a hard glare. Beelzebub smiled a twisted, menacing smile, and buzzed faintly.

“Well, I might have to take the matter of your  _ Angel _ into my own hands.” Crowley’s jaw clenched of its own accord. “And I’m szure you wouldn’t like that, would you?” the Prince of Hell looked up at him, blank-faced once more. “So make your choice, traitor.”

“What do you need?”

Aziraphale woke up. His hands were tied- literally- and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t miracle himself free. He struggled until someone came into view. 

“Gabriel, I’m not quite sure I understand why you brought me here,” he said. Gabriel smiled his same, blank smile and listened. “There must have been some kind of mistake, Crowley and I haven’t done anything to offend Heaven!”

“Oh, but I’m afraid you have.” Gabriel waved a hand, and Aziraphale was free. The gold shackles stayed, but the chain was broken. “Have you taken a look at your wings lately, Principality Aziraphale?” and then they were there.

_ Long ago, an angel met a serpent on the walls of Eden.  _

He shook his wings out carefully, and his words caught in his throat when he saw a single dark grey feather drift across Heaven’s immaculately clean floors. It hissed a bit and the edges singed.

_ Long ago- 6,000 years ago, to be exact- an angel had sheltered a demon from the first drops of rain with a pure white wing. _

Gabriel gave him a pointed look. Aziraphale stretched his wings out and saw a speckling of grey feathers mingling with his white ones. They were all his, he knew that. He hadn’t looked at his wings since the day of would-be-Armageddon, but he knew what they looked like. This was not what they looked like. 

_ Long ago, an angel began to fall. _


	2. heaven's mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aziraphale meets Raphael and his Archangel friends, Gabriel and Remiel.
> 
> Then they fall.

_ 7,000 years ago, before Earth was created. _

Raphael laughed and tucked his long hair behind his ear. Remiel and Gabriel sat across from him, hand in hand. Gabriel looked about ready to explode with embarrassment, as Remiel hadn’t given him any warning before lacing their fingers through his, their crystal-blue eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Gabriel, why so stiff?” Raphael asked. The other Archangel shook his head and looked down. Remiel grinned and let go of him, then sat behind Raphael and began to braid his hair. “Have you heard the plans She has for Earth? With the Garden and the Tree and all that?”

He felt Remiel wiggle excitedly behind him. “I’m so happy, all my bugs will have a place to go!” Gabriel smiled wistfully at the smaller angel as they began to list off all the names of the insects they’d created.

A few feet away, the Principality Aziraphale was watching the trio from behind a tree. He felt a bit guilty, spying on them like that. But he feared if he got too close to the Archangels he would be reprimanded for disturbing them.

Raphael was beautiful. His honey-colored eyes; his long, flowing red hair. Aziraphale was enraptured with him. His skin shimmered with images of the stars he’d created, the galaxies he’d helped mold into shape. The Principality’s favorite was the snake. The graceful serpent that twisted its way across the Archangel’s chest and arms, and peeked out from under his robes to slither along his collarbone-

“Hey, who was that over there?” Remiel’s voice tore him from his daydreams and he quickly ducked behind the tree. 

“Oh, it’s that Principality I saw the other day.” this was Raphael, the smile in his voice evident. His little gold snake peered out of his sleeve and wiggled its tongue. “Don’t be shy, you can come out.” 

Aziraphale slowly emerged from his hiding spot. Remiel smiled. “Aziraphale! Why didn’t you come over here?” he began to feel a bit nervous. He, a mere Principality, was standing with three Archangels. “I was just telling Gabe and Crawly-”

“Crawly?” the word slipped out without warning. He shut his mouth quickly. “Sorry, I-”

“No,” Raphael said. “It’s okay, it’s just a nickname they gave me.” he smiled and Aziraphale felt his heart race. “We all call Remiel ‘Bee.’”

Remiel nodded and smiled. “Gabe is just Gabe, though.” Gabriel rolled his eyes despite the smile that stretched across his face. 

“Oh!” Raphael- Crawly now, Aziraphale supposed- tugged his sleeve up and coaxed the shimmering snake to his hand. “Have you met Serpens? She was my first constellation, so I brought her to life.” he took Aziraphale’s hand and brought it to his own. Where Serpens slithered on Crawly’s skin, she was warmer. The Principality noticed that when he looked closer, she was made of lines of gold strung between the stars on Crawly’s arms.

Aziraphale knew his face was flaming red by this point, so he ran a hand through his short blond curls and sat down by the Archangels. Bee danced around before stringing a flower in Crawly’s hair and settling beside Gabriel.

_ 700 years later. _

Raphael was falling. So was Remiel. Bee and Crawly were gone, only smoke and the smell of burning feathers left behind. Aziraphale knew he should be feeling something but despite all the hundreds of years of love and soft touches and looks from Raphael, he didn’t.

Who was Raphael? Gabriel seemed equally conflicted for a moment, then came to and smiled at Aziraphale. “We should go help prepare for Eden. It is coming soon, after all.” Aziraphale nodded, any memory of his archangel gone.

_ Falling hurt.  _ It was the first thought Crawly had when he awoke beside Bee, feathers singed and skin burnt. He reached out to the smaller figure, but they buzzed at his touch. He noticed their wings, burnt all the way to the bone. Unsalvageable. 

Falling hurt. It burned and smelled like sulfur, the lakes of Hell both freezing and scalding at the same time. Crawly got up on trembling legs. And he remembered. 

Aziraphale had pushed him from the edge. His angel’s face had been blank, unyielding. As Crawly fell to his demise, he thought he might have seen a single tear run down Zira’s face. Falling  _ hurt. _ He sobbed and sank to his knees once more, finally seeing his face in the reflection of the water. His eyes were yellow and slit like a-

Serpens hissed. She had stayed, but was burnt black, any sign of her starry gold gone. She wrapped herself around his neck, trying to cool his burning. His stars were gone, and his wings…

Where once sat three pairs of pearly-white wings, there was now one pair of jet-black ones. Where the other two had been burned the worst. He reached a hand to his back and pulled it away covered in black blood.  _ Demon blood _ . Crawly pulled himself together and stood. He waded through the sulfuric waters to Bee. They stayed put, unmoving. He picked them up and carried them to the edge of the lake. He had to fix their wings.

He had been a healer, a creator. He had to be able to fix them. A small insect buzzed past, its opalescent wings flittering as it attempted to feed on the gore and bloody remains of Bee’s wings. Crawly set them down on the rocky ground and waved it away. Then he began his work.


	3. lilith.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crawly gets a gift from the Mother of Demons.
> 
> Crowley discovers that Beelzebub might not hate her as much as she thought.

_ Present-day; six days after Aziraphale’s capture _

Crowley picked up the phone in the bookshop and dialed the number for Beelzebub’s office. “I’m coming down, be there when I get in. I don’t want to die by the hands of an angry demon.” she hung up the phone. She really had no right to be bossing them around, but she wasn’t in the best of moods. 

The Bentley sped down the M25, the other cars jumping out of its way. The humans in the cars were baffled, but Crowley couldn’t be bothered with wiping memories just then. She took her hands off the wheel to tie up her hair. She’d been growing it out, and there was no way in Heaven or Hell she was going to let a stray demon’s greasy fingers ruin her hard work.

She got to one of the back entrances, fixed her bra-strap, and went in. 

_ 400 years after falling; 100 years after the birth of Eden. _

Lilith carded her fingers through Crawly’s hair, braiding black orchids between the strands. His hair was still as long as ever, flowing down his back in waves. “So,” he said. “What’s this assignment I’m doing again?” he let his head fall back into Lilith’s lap. She smiled and gave his forehead a motherly kiss. Beelzebub made a little gagging noise and laid down on their back.

“Well, according to Lucifer,” she said, weaving another flower in. “‘get up there and make some trouble,’ but I had a more specific idea.” Crawly smiled at that. Lilith was brilliant, any idea of hers was sure to be a good one.

He waited expectantly for her next words, but she simply ran her fingers over Serpens, who had been resting on Crawly’s shoulder. And then Crawly was gone, and a long black serpent was in his place. It seemed a bit distressed until Lilith waved her hand again and Crawly’s body returned. “You are to be the Serpent of Eden, to tempt the woman Eve into taking the fruit from the Tree.” she grinned, her teeth sharp and her eyes sharper. “She will surely take it to her husband, and the Plan will be ruined.” 

Crawly had expected nothing less from the Mother of Demons. “Lilith, I don’t think even She could come up with something as good as that,” he said. Lilith smiled again and nodded. 

“Will you do it? You can keep the snake form, if you’d like.” Crawly’s eyes lit up and his slit pupils widened just a bit. 

“Yeah, I’ll help.” he paused for a second, feeling that something was missing. “Where’s Beelz?” Beelzebub, formerly Bee, had been sitting with them just a moment ago. “I’m gonna go find them.” He got up, admired his hair for a second, and set off to find his demon sibling.

It didn’t take long for him to spot them among the assortment of blackened flowers and mud. Their delicate, membranous wings fluttered as they knelt, trying to coax life back into the petals. “Crawly,” they said in greeting as he approached. “What new plan has Lilith come up with this time?”

“I am to be a serpent, to tempt Eve into eating the fruit from the Tree.” to demonstrate, he (with help from Serpens) took his newly-acquired snake form again, and slithered quietly to drape himself over Beelzebub’s lap. Their eyes, still crystal blue, narrowed as Crawly gave them a sly smile (as well as he could, being a snake). Then he was himself again, still in Beelzebub’s lap. They shoved him off and he laughed. 

“She likes you more than me,” they said. “I can’t help her at all, with my injuries.” Crawly’s face fell. 

“Bee-” 

“Don’t call me that. It’s what  _ he _ used to call me.” 

Gabriel. Crawly remembered violet eyes and silver hair. Bee had loved him, and he had pushed them from the edge. Had helped them Fall. He remembered his own angel, and his heart twisted painfully.

“I can try to help you,” Crawly offered softly. “With your pain, I mean.” he had been a healer, a very long time ago. They shook their head. 

“I’m fine,” they said, and turned back to their flowers. He knew better than to push them, so he left to prepare for the Garden.

_ Present-day. _

Crowley pushed her way through the crowded hallways of Hell, Beelzebub at her side. She ignored the hungry looks of the demons she passed until the two finally arrived at Beelzebub’s office. Crowley sat, exhausted, in one of the extremely uncomfortable plastic chairs at the Prince’s desk.

“So,” she said. “What’s your plan with Aziraphale?” 

Beelzebub stood from their desk to close the door. Then Crowley’s hands were bound, and she couldn’t move. “My plan,  _ Crowley _ , is to tell you why you’re really here.”

“What the Heaven are you doing?” she struggled against the handcuffs (specially made for demons; it was impossible to miracle yourself out of them) and hissed. “Someone give me strength,” she muttered as Beelzebub came back into view, a menacing grin on their face. 

“Take a look for yourszelf, Crowley.” a mirror appeared, and Crowley could see her wings. They were… turning white. She felt a chill run down her spine. “You are Rizing.” they said the last word with a sneer and a pronounced buzz. There was no way. Crowley had been one of the first demons, along with Beelzebub themselves. Then she remembered what had taken place a year earlier. The body switch.

“You can’t be serious, this is a joke, right?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Beelzebub’s mouth twisted. “And yezz, I uzed Aziraphale azz an excuzze to get you down here.” Crowley hung her head. When she finally looked up again, the Prince’s back was turned. When they spoke, their voice shook. “I didn’t know how elsze to bring you home.”

Crowley hesitated. “Bee,” she said softly. “Why are you really doing this?”

They said nothing for a moment, then turned back around. “I thought,” they started. “I thought that maybe if I kept you down here, in Hell with me, you’d sztop being an angel again… and you wouldn’t have to leave me here alone.” 

Crowley felt  _ years _ of guilt finally settle on her shoulders. She’d left Beelzebub here on their own and left. It wasn’t until now that she realized how much it must have hurt to be abandoned by the one person who had cared. “I’m sorry, Bee.”

They shook their head. “I still hate that nickname.” Crowley smiled, sadness in her eyes.

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!
> 
> When I posted this, I thought no one was going to read it but AAAAAAAAA


	4. her angel.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crowley discovers something she'd dreaded for a long time, and figures out why it's happening.

_ 150 years after Creation; the wall of Eden. _

Aziraphale stood on the wall of the Eastern gate. He had been feeling quite guilty for the past hour or so, and then a demon showed up. Needless to say, it was not the best time. Crawly, as the demon had introduced themselves as, had been the one to tempt Eve into eating the fruit. “You had a sword, didn’t you?” Crawly said.

“What? Sorry,” Aziraphale jumped as he was torn from his thoughts. “I, um, yes I did have one.” he then went on to admit he’d given Adam and Eve his flaming sword and had been quite worried if it was the right thing to do and all. 

“Well,” Crawly said, tucking a strand of hair behind their ear, “I think it must have been the right thing if you were the one to do it.” Aziraphale could hear the tenderness in their voice, and was slightly confused.

“Do,” he started tentatively. “Do I know you?”

Crawly stopped. They looked up at him, then back down at their hands. “No,” they said quietly. “I guess you don’t.”

The first drops of rain began to fall, and Crawly hissed at the holiness of them. Aziraphale, as nice as he was, lifted a pearly white wing and gestured for Crawly to come stand closer. The demon nodded and shuffled underneath their newfound shelter. 

Neither of them noticed the single grey feather that appeared on both their wings.

Millenia passed, and the two became sort of friends. Crawly changed her name, then changed his hair, and Aziraphale finally got used to all the switching of genders. They met up accidentally all the time, and the angel started to grow quite fond of the demon. It was unusual, for ethereal and occult beings to be friends. But it happened. 

They danced around the term ‘friendship’ for quite a long time, unsure if it would anger their respective higher-ups. But they stayed within reach of each other for thousands of years, always there when the other needed them. 

Aziraphale was there when Crowley bought his Bentley (as terrified as he was when Crowley first drove it), and Crowley was there when Aziraphale bought his bookshop (although the demon suspected ‘library’ might have been a better term for it). Then the end times were beginning, and the two began to panic. If they were found out, how would Heaven and Hell react? They were beginning to think they might be more than friends, and they were both anxious about anyone knowing. 

Aziraphale still didn’t remember. 

_ Long ago, two angels had been in love. _

Crowley did, though he thought it better that Aziraphale didn’t know who he used to be. The time they’d spent together in Heaven were some of the best memories Crowley had, and although he hated that Aziraphale didn’t know about them, he knew it would kill him to know he’d been the one to inevitably strike Crowley down. 

_ Long ago, two angels had discovered something new, something different. _

He knew even God Herself wouldn’t be able to stem the guilt and shame and  _ fear _ that would manifest should Aziraphale remember what happened on that day so many thousands of years ago. He kept quiet. He knew it was better that way.

Raphael was gone. He wouldn’t be coming back. And despite Aziraphale not remembering him, it was inevitable that he would remember who Raphael had been. The Star-Forger, the Healer. One of the first Archangels created, assigned to make stars and galaxies alongside his brother Gabriel. 

_ Long ago, an Archangel and a Principality taught the angels to love.  _

Crowley, back in the present day, sat still in Beelzebub’s office. She was still herself, she knew that. But something had changed. Something small, something almost insignificant. “Bee,” she said. “Do you know why Aziraphale was taken?” Beelzebub sighed and sat in their chair. 

“The same reason you’re here,” they said. “He is Falling.”

Crowley’s blood ran cold. Her angel, Falling? 

She hated to admit it, but it made sense. Aziraphale had always been one to do what he thought was right, no matter what. The moment he’d sheltered Crowley from the rain the first day they met, it had started. They were infinitely switching places, Falling and Rising, ebbing and flowing-

Wait. Crowley sat silently, wracking her brain for the words that clicked as she thought them. 

_ Switching places. _

Yes, it had begun the day they met, but it only really had a real effect…

The day they switched places. Switched bodies. There was no doubt that Crowley had felt Aziraphale’s holy essence when they’d switched places. It must have been the final straw for them. 

As Crowley sat silently, trying to not let her brain explode, Beelzebub sighed and waited for her to be ready to talk again. 

It was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of a shorter chapter this time, hope you like it ^w^


	5. of hellfire...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aziraphale is told he's going to be tested with hellfire again.
> 
> Crowley finds a way to get his angel back.

Aziraphale was tired. It had been a very long time since he’d been truly exhausted, but he knew that was what he was feeling. Gabriel hadn’t permitted him to leave Heaven yet, and it had been millenia since the last time he’d spent this many hours among other angels. Heaven had… changed. It was no longer the comfortable, homely place he used to love, but a cold, pristinely clean office that made him feel very out of place. 

And as much as he hated to admit it, he missed Crowley. It felt like a cardinal sin, thinking that in literal Heaven, but he knew he couldn’t deny it. After what was supposed to be Armageddon, he’d spent most of his time with Crowley, dancing around the fact that they could be something more than friends. Crowley had seemed close to putting their (they would always be ‘they’ when Aziraphale wasn’t there to know what they preferred) foot down and just kissing the angel senseless the last time he’d rambled on about how “we’re an angel and a demon, Crowley, it just can’t be done!”

He did feel bad for that. To them, there weren’t any more sides, and the terms ‘angel’ and ‘demon’ weren’t as powerful as they used to be. 

Aziraphale found himself pulled back to reality by the ringing of a phone in the next room over. He had his own small office, as Gabriel had decided he was better suited working closer to home. He missed his bookshop, but he had no way to go to what he really considered his home. However, it was impossible to return to Earth without the proper authorization, as they’d changed the way it was done since the last time he’d been up here. 

And there was the problem of the shackles. There was no chain, but the wrist pieces prevented him from working any miracles. He sighed and picked up a pile of paperwork he’d been told to file.

Someone knocked on his office door. “Come in!” he said, still trying to decipher the paperwork. Gabriel entered the room with Michael at his side. The room grew cold. Michael sat in one of the chairs across the desk and folded her hands on the mahogany surface. Gabriel stayed by the door. “Well, ah, what can I do for you two?”

Michael smiled. “Well, Aziraphale, we had a proposition for you.” Gabriel nodded in agreeance and closed the door behind him. 

“We want to run some tests on you, since you seem to be immune to hellfire,” he said. “If we can find out why you were unaffected, we may be able to apply that to all our corporations.” Aziraphale’s blood ran cold. He  _ wasn’t  _ immune to hellfire, Crowley was. But of course, Gabriel didn’t know that. None of the angels or demons knew about the body switch (which Aziraphale had figured out as the cause of this whole debacle, notably slower than Crowley did). 

“Well, I guess I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” 

Gabriel smiled. “No, you don’t.”

Crowley was back in the Bentley. Beelzebub was in the passenger seat, gripping the handle on the door like their life depended on it. “How doezz Azziraphale tolerate thizz?” they asked, internally terrified. 

“Eh, he doesn’t really.” Crowley took a corner on two wheels and screeched to a halt in front of the bookshop. He hurried across the street with Beelzebub right behind him. 

The bookshop smelled like it always had. Nothing out of place, nothing different. The wine bottle was still sitting on the coffee table by the couch, and Crowley took a long drink from it. “Hand it over.”

He gave the bottle to Beelzebub and they downed the rest of the wine (probably only a glassful) before slamming it back down on the table and looking up at Crowley. “How the heaven are we going to get your sztupid angel back doing thizz?” Crowley sighed and looked around the shop. He found nothing. 

Then something interesting caught his eye. It was the same sigil that Aziraphale had accidentally used to ascend to Heaven. The same sigil that caused the fire. Crowley stumbled over his feet in an attempt to get to it as fast as possible. 

It was still intact. 

“Bee-” he waved them over. “This- I can use this to get up there and bring him back,” Crowley said. “I’ve been up there before-”

“Yeah, seven thouzzand yearzz ago,” they countered. Ah, that was right. They still didn’t know about the body switch. 

“That’s beside the point.” Crowley knelt on the floor next to the chalked-in lines and ran his fingers over the wooden floor. The candles had to be stashed somewhere safe, but he had no idea where Aziraphale would have kept them. “Look around for some white candles, will you?”

Beelzebub groaned and began to open cabinets to search for the candles. “Bloody angels…” they muttered. Crowley ignored them and produced a piece of chalk to strengthen the lines in the circle. 

Under the sounds of Beelzebub slamming cupboards, there was a quiet hum of something… ethereal. Something magic. Crowley knew he’d do anything to get Aziraphale back, even if it meant becoming an angel again. Even if it meant becoming Raphael again. His angel couldn’t be a demon. 

But Crowley thought, maybe, he could be an angel again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter because online school is kicking my ass oof
> 
> follow me:
> 
> Tumblr & Twitter: @theaniichan


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